Safy Nebbou was born in Bayonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France to a German mother and an Algerian father.He is the brother of actor Mehdi Nebbou.He started his career as a stage director at the Théâtre des Chimères in Paris, where Tsilla Chelton was one of his mentors, and worked as an actor. Subsequently, he directed short films, commercials for France Télécom, Orange and Renault, and feature films.